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White Sox Grant Donn Roach His Release To Pursue Opportunity In Japan

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Right-hander Donn Roach has been granted his release by the White Sox in order to pursue an opportunity in Japan, the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte announced. The move comes after Roach was named the club’s minor league pitcher of the month for June and after he’d been selected to the International League All-Star team.

There’s no official word as to which club will be signing Roach, though multiple reports out of Japan have suggested that the Orix Buffaloes have been showing interest in the 28-year-old right-hander. Roach becomes the second player to be released from a Triple-A club in order to pursue a job in Japan, joining now-former Mariners lefty Ariel Miranda.

Roach hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2016 with Seattle and has just a 5.77 ERA with 20 strikeouts and 18 walks in 39 innings as a big leaguer. But he’s notched a much better 3.68 ERA in 453 innings at the Triple-A level, albeit with a pedestrian 4.8 K/9 mark against 2.2 BB/9. Roach also spent the 2017 season pitching for the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization, posting a 4.69 ERA through 165 innings of work.

That led Roach to the White Sox organization, where he’s turned in a terrific season to date. Through 95 innings, he’s logged a 2.65 ERA with 5.8 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 0.28 HR/9 and a 56 percent ground-ball rate, with all but one of his 16 appearances coming out of the rotation. While the ChiSox aren’t exactly enjoying quality results from their rotation in the Majors, it also seems unlikely that Roach would’ve been a long-term answer for them at the big league level — especially given his lack of missed bats. This arrangement will allow Roach to earn more than he’d been earning in the States (and possibly set him up for a raise in a second season in Japan) while providing the Sox with some financial compensation for granting Roach his release.

Giants Release Roberto Gomez

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The Giants have released right-hander Roberto Gomez to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Johnny Cueto’s reinstatement from the 60-day disabled list, tweets Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. The team had already announced earlier tonight that Kelby Tomlinson was optioned to Triple-A in order to open a spot on the 25-man roster.

Gomez, 28, has been on the minor league disabled list since early May. Because injured players can’t be outrighted during the season, the Giants instead opted to release Gomez in order to clear a spot on the roster. It’s not uncommon in this type of situation for the player in question to strike up a new minor league contract with the organization, so it’s possible that he could yet return to the Giants’ minor league ranks.

Gomez ha pitched a total of 14 2/3 innings for the Giants over the past two seasons, and while he hasn’t yet found success in the Majors (13 runs allowed in that time), he does have an impressive 14-to-2 K/BB ratio in the big leagues. Gomez also has a solid track record at the Triple-A level, where he’s worked to a 3.93 ERA with 8.0 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 over the course of 103 innings.

Dodgers’ First-Round Pick J.T. Ginn Will Not Sign

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Dodgers first-round pick J.T. Ginn, the No. 30 overall selection in last month’s draft, announced tonight (via Instagram) that he will not sign. Rather, the young right-hander will honor his commitment to Mississippi State. Writes Ginn:

After being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round, I had a lot to think about over the last month. My ultimate goal is to one day play in the Major Leagues, and the draft provided one path to that goal. College baseball offered another path. I am grateful for both opportunities, and after giving it a lot of thought I have decided to pursue my lifelong dream of playing college baseball for the Mississippi State Bulldogs!!!

Fancred’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter) that the Dodgers offered Ginn around $2.4MM, which would’ve topped his No. 30 slot value of $2,275,800 by roughly $125K. That, however, didn’t prove to be incentive enough to steer Ginn away from pursuing a collegiate career. Ginn entered the draft generally ranked in the 30-50 range, placing 33rd on MLB.com’s rankings, 39th at Baseball America and 47th at Fangraphs. As Jim Callis of MLB.com notes, he’ll be eligible to enter the draft again after his sophomore season, when he’ll be 21 years of age in 2020.

Because the Dodgers won’t be signing Ginn, they’ll receive a compensatory pick at No. 31 overall in next year’s draft. For the time being, they’ll lose the $2,275,800 from their overall draft pool. Callis points out that despite the loss of that sum, they’ll likely have enough money to offer around $300K above slot to second-rounder Michael Grove, who has also yet to sign. The deadline for 2018 draftees to sign is tomorrow afternoon at 5pm ET.

Royals Claim Enny Romero

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The Royals announced that they’ve claimed left-hander Enny Romero off waivers from the Pirates. Right-hander Blaine Boyer was transferred from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Romero.

The 27-year-old Romero opened the season with the Nationals but was designated for assignment after just two innings of work. The Pirates plucked him off waivers but tried to designate him a second time just weeks later, but it turned out that Romero had an impingement in his left shoulder that resulted in him being placed on the disabled list. Upon sufficiently rehabbing the injury, Romero was activated and subsequently designated for assignment.

Romero was among the harder-throwing lefty relievers in the league for the Nationals last season but saw his average fastball velocity drop from 98 mph in 2017 to 95.1 mph in 2018. That, granted, came in a small sample of six innings, but Romero’s velocity was never at this low of a point throughout the 2017 season. To this point in the year, he’s yielded five runs on a dozen hits and four walks with seven strikeouts in six innings.

The 2017 season was a solid one for Romero, however, as he worked to a 3.56 ERA with 10.5 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, 1.13 HR/9 and a 39 percent ground-ball rate through 55 2/3 innings of relief. In 142 career innings at the MLB level, Romero has a 4.69 ERA with plenty of missed bats (9.7 K/9) but far too many walks (4.6 BB/9). Unlike many lefty relievers, Romero has been more effective against right-handed batters (.240/.325/.379) than he has against left-handed batters (.312/.392/.463).

Romero entered the season with just over two years of Major League service time, so if he can turn things around in Kansas City, he’ll be a controllable bullpen piece for the Royals through the 2021 season. He’d be eligible for arbitration this winter. Romero is out of minor league options, however, so he’ll need to hold down a spot on the big league roster or else clear waivers before he can be sent to Triple-A.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/5/18

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Here are Thursday’s minor moves from around the game…

  • Left-hander Tim Collins cleared waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Syracuse by the Nationals organization, reports Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (Twitter link). The southpaw had enough service time to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, but Janes adds that Collins will indeed go to Syracuse. The 28-year-old returned to the Majors for the first time since 2014 this season, having missed significant time due to a pair of Tommy John surgeries. He posted a 2.77 ERA that looks strong at first glance but was accompanied by 14 hits allowed and six walks against just eight strikeouts through 13 innings.
  • The Reds’ Rookie-level affiliate announced today that lefty Max Wotell has been released by the organization. The 21-year-old Wotell was traded alongside Dilson Herrera from the Mets to the Reds in exchange for Jay Bruce back in 2016, but his control evaporated immediately upon being dealt to the Reds. At the time of the swap, Wotell had a 3.94 ERA with a respectable 31-to-12 K/BB ratio in 29 2/3 innings in Rookie ball. He walked seven batters in six innings to close out that season with the Reds, and the following year, he walked 14 batters in just 17 1/3 innings between two levels. This season, Wotell had a combined 10.45 ERA with 17 walks against 11 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings between A-ball and Rookie ball.

Giants Activate Johnny Cueto

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The Giants announced that they’ve activated Johnny Cueto from the 60-day disabled list on Thursday. Infielder Kelby Tomlinson was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento in order to open a spot on the active roster. Cueto’s activation will also require a 40-man move, though the team has yet to make that announcement.

Cueto, 32, has been out since late April due to a sprain in his right elbow. While the right-hander said that he initially feared he’d require Tommy John surgery, that level of damage wasn’t revealed in the subsequent MRI, and he instead is now able to return after missing a bit more than two months.

The return of Cueto will be a welcome boon to the San Francisco rotation; the right-hander had gotten off to an outstanding start to the 2018 season, pitching to a 0.84 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 1.7 BB/9, 0.28 HR/9 and a 45 percent ground-ball rate in 32 innings before landing on the shelf. He’ll now slot into the rotation alongside Madison Bumgarner, Chris Stratton, Andrew Suarez and Dereck Rodriguez. That composition is likely to change though, as Jeff Samardzija is also slated to be activated from the disabled list this weekend.

Cueto’s return will likely be one of the more significant additions the Giants make in the coming weeks. With the team pressed right up against the luxury tax threshold, they’ll only be able to add players if their trade partners either agree to pay the entirety of the remaining salary on a player’s contract or take back some meaningful salary in return. Despite the significant injuries they’ve dealt with in the rotation this season, the Giants are sitting at 45-43 — just 3.5 games behind the division-leading Diamondbacks and three games behind the second-place Dodgers.

Brewers Designate Eric Sogard For Assignment

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The Brewers announced Thursday that they’ve reinstated Tyler Saladino from the 10-day disabled list and created a spot on the active roster by designating struggling second baseman Eric Sogard for assignment. The move leaves Milwaukee’s 40-man roster at a total of 39 players.

Sogard, 32, re-signed with the Brewers last October after turning in a quality season at the dish and in the field. The 2018 season has been a disaster for Sogard, though, as he’s batted just .134/.241/.165 through 113 trips to the plate. And while he’s known as a strong defender at second base, he’s spent more time this season at shortstop, where he hasn’t rated out as well defensively.

Sogard did bat .273/.393/.378 through 299 plate appearances last season, but his overall body of work in the Majors — a .238/.309/.314 slash in 1743 plate appearances — suggests that he’s unlikely to return to those heights. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating peg Sogard as a strong defender at second base and at third base, and he could continue to provide infield depth for the Crew if he ultimately clears waivers.

Indians Re-Sign Melky Cabrera

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The Indians announced that they’ve re-signed outfielder Melky Cabrera to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Columbus for the time being. Cabrera is represented by the Legacy Agency.

Cabrera, 33, was with the Cleveland organization earlier this season after signing a minor league deal in late April and having his contract selected to the big league roster just a few weeks later. The veteran switch-hitter, though, didn’t get much time to ramp up in Triple-A after sitting out Spring Training, and he showed some visible signs of rust in the Majors. After hitting .286/.286/.381 through 42 plate appearances in Triple-A, he jumped to the Majors and hit .207/.242/.293 through 66 plate appearances before being designated for assignment.

Upon that original DFA, Cabrera refused an outright assignment to Columbus in favor of free agency, presumably hoping to see if another club provided a clearer path back to the Majors. Apparently, Cabrera either didn’t find an offer to his liking or saw the recent injury to Lonnie Chisenhall as a potential means of opening a door to the Majors with the Indians once again.

While the 2018 season has been a struggle for Cabrera, he posted a roughly league-average offensive season between the Royals and White Sox last season, batting a combined .285/.324/.423 with 17 homers, 30 doubles and a pair of triples through 666 plate appearances. Overall, dating back to the 2014 campaign, Cabrera has batted a combined .289/.333/.431 — good for a 110 OPS+ in that time.

Manny Machado Trade Talks Have Reportedly Accelerated

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Though there’s still four weeks until the 2018 non-waiver trade deadline, trade talks surrounding Manny Machado have “accelerated” in recent days, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription link). The Orioles, according to Rosenthal, would prefer to move Machado “sooner rather than later,” as they can extract more in a trade if the acquiring team controls Machado for three months as opposed to two months.

To this point in the summer, the teams most connected to Machado have been the Dodgers, Phillies, Diamondbacks and Indians. The Brewers and Cubs have been more loosely tied to Machado on the rumor mill, though Rosenthal reports that while Milwaukee is doing its due diligence, the team is unlikely to meet Baltimore’s asking price.

That, it seems, could be true of the Phillies as well. MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reports that the Phillies should be considered “longshots” in the Machado trade sweepstakes. Zolecki writes that while the Phillies “love” Machado and plan to make a serious run at him in the offseason, the team doesn’t feel itself to be one piece away from a World Series. That, of course, makes it considerably more difficult to meet what is likely a rather lofty asking price from the O’s.

Rosenthal suggests that the D-backs and Indians could be the “most motivated” teams in the Machado market, and Zolecki, too, specifically lists the D-backs as a club likelier to acquire Machado than the Phillies.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, meanwhile, tweets that the Dodgers continue to “aggressively” pursue Machado, adding that the Orioles have been scouting L.A.’s system heavily and are particularly interested in Class-A Advanced right-hander Dustin May. There’d obviously be more at play than a mere one-for-one swap, but May, a third-round pick in 2016, is generally considered to be among the Dodgers’ more promising young arms. He’s off to a strong start in 2018 as well, having pitched to a 3.18 ERA with 9.1 K/9, 1.7 BB/9 and a 54.1 percent ground-ball rate through 65 innings (12 starts).

Of course, there could still be other organizations involved in discussions. Jim Bowden of The Athletic tweets that eight teams have had at least some engagement with the O’s regarding Machado within the past ten days. That would suggest that there are at least a few mystery teams hanging around the periphery of talks.

Latest On Matt Harvey, Raisel Iglesias

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3:20pm: A source disputes the reporting from the Nationals’ perspective, per Chelsea Janes and Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post (Twitter links). The Washington organization does not have interest in Harvey and “seems unlikely” to be a real bidder on Iglesias, according to the WaPo duo. The Nats are said to have shown some interest in Iglesias as a reliever, but that came before they acquired Kelvin Herrera.

10:07am: The Nationals have been in touch with the Reds recently and are eyeing right-handers Matt Harvey and Raisel Iglesias, in particular, according to Jon Heyman of Fancred (Twitter link). Perhaps most interestingly, Heyman notes that several clubs are intrigued by the idea of using Iglesias as a starter.

Harvey, 29, has undeniably raised his stock since joining the Reds in a trade nearly two months ago in a trade that sent Devin Mesoraco to New York. Through 53 2/3 innings out of the Cincinnati rotation, he’s worked to a 3.86 ERA with 6.7 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 1.17 HR/9 and a 43 percent ground-ball rate. More encouraging than the bottom-line numbers is the fact that Harvey has steadily improved his velocity over the course of his tenure in Cincinnati; he’s averaged nearly 95 mph on his fastball over his past five starts and is averaging 94.2 mph on his heater as a Red after averaging 92.6 mph as a Met.

Harvey would be a pure rental for any team that acquires him, as he’s slated to hit free agency at season’s end. From the Nationals’ vantage point, though, it’s not clear he’d be a definitive upgrade over their in-house options. The Nats’ current top three of Max Scherzer, Tanner Roark and Gio Gonzalez is a strong trio, and while it’s not known exactly when Stephen Strasburg will rejoin the team, he did recently throw a bullpen session. If Strasburg’s absence proves to be lengthy, the need for a starter would be more pronounced. If he can return in the reasonably near future, though, it’s tougher to call Harvey a demonstrative upgrade over current fifth starter Jeremy Hellickson, who has turned in a perhaps surprisingly effective season to date (2.63 ERA, 7.1 K/9, 1.5 BB/9, 3.51 FIP, 3.55 xFIP through 48 innings).

As for Iglesias, he stands out as a reasonable target for virtually any team with postseason aspirations. The 28-year-old has stepped up as Cincinnati’s closer over the past two seasons and pitched quite well, regularly pitching more than an inning per appearance. Since Opening Day 2017, he’s pitched 112 2/3 innings (97 appearances) and posted a 2.48 ERA with 10.6 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and 0.8 HR/9. Beyond that, he’s controlled for three more years after the 2018 season, making him a long-term piece for any club to add to its staff — be it in the bullpen or rotation.

The Nationals’ bullpen is much improved from a year ago, as they’ve since added Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson, Brandon Kintzler and Kelvin Herrera, to say nothing of the surprisingly dominant Justin Miller. But Iglesias would nonetheless further deepen an increasingly productive relief corps for manager Dave Martinez or, perhaps, serve as an upside play to plug into the fifth spot in the Washington rotation. If that proved to be a role in which he could thrive, he’d give the team a valuable option there with Gonzalez and Hellickson set to hit free agency at season’s end and Roark controlled only through 2019.

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